Improvement in folding chairs



2 Sheets-Sheet 1.

1A.. T. L. DAVIS. Folding-Chair.

No. 204,543. Patented June 4, I878,

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x. PETERS, PHOTD-LITHOGHAFNER, WASHINGTON D C UNITED STATES PATENTQFFIGE.

ALBERT T. L. DAVIS, OF LAKE VILLAGE, NEW HAMPSHIRE.

IMPROVEMENT IN FOLDING CHAIRS.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 204,543, dated June 4,1878; application filed August 2, 1877.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, ALBERT T. L. DAVIS, of Lake Village, in the countyof Belknap and State of New Hampshire, have invented an Improved FoldingChair; and I do hereby declare that the following is a full and exactdescription thereof, reference being had to the accompanying drawings,making part of this specification Figure 1 being a top view of the chairarranged for use; Fig. 2, a side view of the same; Fig. 3, a bottom viewthereof; Fig. 4, a view of the chair folded up for transportation; Fig.5, a view of a part detached; Fig. 6, a view of the chair inperspective.

Like letters designate corresponding parts in all of the figures.

The construction of my improved chair is substantially as follows: Thebody of the chair is composed of a pair of cross-bars, A B, at eachside, pivoted together at the middle by a pivot, a, and a pair ofcross-bars, O D, both at the front and rear side of the chair, pivotedtogether at the middle by a pivot, b, the front and rear cross-barsbeing pivoted at their respective ends to the adjacent ends of the sidecross-bars, by swivel pivot-bearings E E, and the cloth or otherflexible material which forms the seat G being secured to the ends ofthe side cross-bars by eyes 0 c, as

shown, or any equivalent or suitable means.

The swivel-bearings E E are made as shown fif'ost clearly in Fig. 5, orotherwise of suitable form, having side plates or ears (1 01, throughwhich pivots ff extend to pivot the front and rear cross-bars thereto,and they are provided with projecting pivots g g, which extend throughholes in the side cross-bars to give a pivot movement to the joints atright angles to the movement on the pivots f f. These bearings have twopeculiarities of construction to adapt them to their purpose, because ofthe cross-bars being in different planes:

First, those bearings which swivel in the outer side bars, A A, arelonger by the thickness of the inner side bars, B B, than those whichswivel in the said inner bars, or, as an equivalent, blocks h h, Fig. 4,of the thickness of the bars, are inserted between the bearings andtheir bars.

Second, the pivot projections g g on the bearings, instead of beingcentral thereon, are centrally in line with the adjacent faces of thecross-bars pivoted together, as shown in Figs. 3 and 5. By thisconstruction the bar s all fold freely, without binding and withoutstrain on any part.

To form a folding back for the chair, each of the outer side bars A A isextended upward and backward a short distance, as at c z, to furnishapart to which to pivot side uprights H H for supporting the back. Theseuprights are provided with projections l l at their lower ends, to bearagainst the back edges of the cross-bars A A, and limit the extent towhich the uprights may swing back without interfering with theirswinging forward.

The upper ends of the uprights are connected by a cross-slot, I, whichis pivoted at m m thereto, and is divided in the middle with anoverlapping joint for its two parts, which are pivoted together at n,the joint being so formed that it will only allow the slot to bendupward, while it remains straight on downward pressure, and thussustains the back of the person sitting in the chair.

A flexible strip, L, of cloth or other material, may be stretched acrossthe back from one upright to the other.

The above-described construction allows the chair to be folded verycompactly, as shown in Fig. 4.

What I claim as my invention, and desire to secure by Letters Patent,is-

1. The folding chair back composed of the pivoted uprights H H anddivided and pivoted back slat I, substantially as and for the purposeherein specified.

2. In a folding chair, the combination of two pairs of pivoted sidecross-bars, A B, two pairs of pivoted transverse cross-bars, G D,connected by long and short swivel-bearings E E in exact line, asdescribed, pivoted back uprights H H, and the divided toggle-jointedback slat I, substantially as and for the purpose herein specified.

A. T. L. DAVIS.

Witnesses: O. P. S. WARDWELL, W. E. Woonwoarn.

